Rural telecoms to seek more cellular spending in the infrastructure bill

If the bipartisan infrastructure package that passed the Senate becomes law, one of Alaska’s busiest fishing ports might finally get connected to the Internet through a fiber-optic cable, a breakthrough that would help fix the area’s spotty Web link. But the local telecom company says that wouldn’t address the region’s other big communications problem — a lack of cellphone towers that leaves many residents and first-responders with extremely poor mobile service. The company, OptimERA, has patched together 4G cellular service for the fishing port itself, Dutch Harbor, a settlement of 4,500 people in the Aleutian Islands. But many smaller communities in the region have no wireless coverage, or outdated 2G or 3G service, said Emmett Fitch, the company’s chief executive. “Let’s totally build fiber to every single home. I’m totally 100 percent behind that. But at the same time, let’s not forget that we’re going to need the wireless infrastructure there, too,” Fitch said. Small telecom companies in rural Idaho and South Dakota share that view, as do first-responders in a remote corner of Washington state. Now that the Senate has passed the bill, cellular carriers plan to turn their advocacy efforts to the House, with the hope of gaining more funding for mobile connectivity, said Gwen Donaldson, a political consultant who is representing a coalition of cellular companies.